COLONIAL AMERICA
Life in colonial America
was a lot of things,
but easy was certainly not
one of them.
Everything you needed
had to be made by you
or someone else ~
a loaf of bread,
a piece of cloth,
cups and dishes,
your bed,
blankets and clothing.
Colonial craftspeople
did their best to provide
the everyday things
we take for granted.
Young boys became apprentices
to someone who was really good
at their trade and they learned the
craft guided by the best instruction
available to them,
by hands on application
and practice, practice, practice.
Practice makes perfect
can never be regarded
as just some old cliche.
After several years
these hopeful apprentices
would gain adequate skill
to open their own shops.
Young women usually learned
their homemaking skills
at home from parents.
Craftspeople built many different things
and helped build our new country
when you consider the towns
that were established
where they opened their shops.
Silversmiths created teapots,
coffeepots, bowls, platters
and the various serving
and eating implements
for the table.
Professional weavers were usually men
who sat at sturdy handmade looms
and wove thread into bolts of cloth.
Women spun the thread
from wool and flax.
Flax was used to weave linen
and flax was an important plant
used in making clothing material
until the ever popular
~ cotton ~
took its place.
Tailors, seamstresses and milliners
created clothing and hats
that ranged from the ordinary,
every day varities
to the elegant in style and quality.
Most women were skilled quilters
who made heirloom quilts,
lovely embroidery
and fragile, exquisite lace.
Wigs were very popular at one time
and master wigmakers created
fine wigs for adults
and often for children too.
Bootmakers made shoes, boots and saddles.
Oddly enough, there was no difference
between right and left footwear at first
as both shoes were made exactly the same.
Printers used letters made out of lead
to set type to print books and leaflets.
Setting type with lead letters
was precise and meticulous work.
Gunsmiths made and repaired
all types of the firearms
that were available in that period.
Potters made jugs, dishes
and various items of the like
out of clay.
Blacksmiths often repaired things
rather than make them
since many things
were made out of iron
and were brought to this country
from England.
Pride in their work inspired them
to create their own things
with subtle changes
and more often than not
dramatic changes that turned
out to be improvements
of the original stereotypes.
Farrier were blacksmiths
who specialized in making horseshoes
and shoeing horses.
Many times the farrier was expected
to doctor the animals as well.
No one had very much spare time
in colonial settlements
because each family member
had to work most of the time
just to survive.
Boys learned to hunt and fish
to put food on the table
while girls learned to sew,
spin thread, cook, clean the house
and make a home for their families.
Perhaps this lack of time
explains why girls were relegated
a subordinate position
where their higher education
and the development of trade skills
were concerned.
Unfair as that certainly is,
it may very well have been
a necessity at the time.
Like injustices of any kind,
its inception may have been
a necessity for the survival
of the whole family or community.
When they did find some spare time
the games and activities they created
were for fun and relaxation.
So effective were they that we still
enjoy them to this very day.
They played at marbles, spinning tops,
rolling hoops, blowing soap bubbles,
tossing horseshoes, whittling wood,
singing songs, jumping rope, kites,
blind man�s bluff, hopscotch,
London Bridge, shuttlecocks (badminton),
riding horses, dancing about a maypole,
crossstitch and tag.
Material Resource:
Hilarie Hicks
Curator of Tryon Palace
New Bern, North Carolina